An analytic philosophy of design and design education : major paradigms and implications for art & design education

This study is based on the premise that both the theoretical and practical work of curriculum development requires the support of generally understood and agreed concepts and terminology. The use of the term 'design' within the fields of design methodology, art & design education, and the design professions is analyzed for the purpose of distinguishing and correlating the various domains of attached meanings. This 'Analytic Philosophy' seeks to clarify to what extent the term 'design' is reliable when applied to the task of determining the purpose and content of design-related activities within art curricula. Two major paradigms related to the notions of design as a 'problem-solving-process' and as a 'basic human capacity' are isolated and offered as dominant orientations towards design methodology and design curriculum development. Assumptions, beliefs, claims, and counter-claims seen to undergird these paradigms are mapped and analyzed along with the design-related content of Canadian provincial secondary art curriculum guides. It is shown that the term 'design' commonly finds different meanings within different contexts and that agreement regarding the meaning of the term is difficult to establish both within and across the various design and art & design education domains. It is also evident that many of the claims which work to support the theoretical frameworks of the paradigms cannot be substantiated. It is concluded that the notion of 'design', as a result, remains conceptually and contextually vague and ambiguous. It is further concluded that while such conceptual confusion might be of little consequence to the practical activities of the design professions, it can serve to complicate and inhibit communications and work particularly related to design education issues and curriculum development. Therefore the term 'design' is seen as unreliable when applied to the task of determining the purpose and content of design-related activities within art curricula.Education, Faculty ofCurriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department ofGraduat